Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Taliban Behead Sikhs

SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Raising anti-Taliban slogans, Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday blocked roads for hours and burnt tyres during a bandh to protest the recent killing of two members of the community in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt, and demanded concrete steps to ensure the safety of minorities in that country.

The call for the bandh — given by the Jammu and Kashmir Sikh United Front (JKSUF) and supported by the BJP, VHP, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), the Jammu Bar Association and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, besides social organisations — hit life in Jammu, Poonch, Reasi and R.S. Pura districts, where shops and business establishments remained closed and vehicles went partially off the roads.

However, there were no reports of any untoward incidents, a police spokesman said.

Sikh protesters, led by Sudershan Singh Wazir, JKSUF convener, blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway for over four hours in the Gangyal and Jammu areas, burnt tyres at Digiana, Camp and other places along the highway, and shouted anti-Taliban slogans besides demonstrating in the city.

“We condemn the attack on Sikhs in Pakistan. The beheading incidents are brutal. Sikhs are unsafe in the area and the Pakistan government has failed to provide them security,” Mr. Wazir told journalists in Jammu.

The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee in Srinagar appealed to the governments of India and Pakistan to take concrete steps to ensure the safety and security of minorities living in Pakistan.